For reasons perhaps known only to the operational brain trust dutifully serving Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and his 10-Year Plan, the redesign of the postal processing network seems to have all originating mail flowing into the 60 or so regional processing and distribution centers from which it will go to other RPDCs or back through local processing centers for distribution…
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The five members of the Postal Regulatory Commission and the nine governors of the Postal Service are all appointed by the president and seated only after Senate confirmation. On each panel, a partisan majority cannot exceed one seat, which makes for interesting choices when a president must fill vacancies with a nominee from the other party. Also, both commissioners and…
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At the November 14 meeting of its Board of Governors, the Postal Service reported a loss of $9.5 billion for its 2024 fiscal year (October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024). That amount is $3 billion larger than the loss reported for fiscal 2023, far different from the projected $1.7 billion surplus anticipated in Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-Year Plan.…
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Although the Postal Service has always offered package services, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is fixated on transforming the agency from one focused on paper mail into one built around the package business. Accordingly, the new delivery vehicles on order are bigger – to hold more boxes – and the facilities in the USPS processing and delivery network are getting more…
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Few Americans may be interested, and fewer may be observing closely, but those who are will soon see how an autocrat gets to do what he wants. To comply with statute, and allay Congressional critics – who won’t do anything anyway – the Postal Service is going through the process of seeking an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission…
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Everyone felt a bit of relief on September 20 when the Postal Service announced it wouldn’t be raising rates next January. In the official quote included in the announcement, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stated that “Our strategies are working, and projected inflation is declining,” and that, as a result, eliminating the January increase was possible. While the elimination of the…
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For Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the new Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center, 25 miles southwest of downtown, was to be a centerpiece example of how his 10-Year Plan would replace the “inefficient” network of “randomly” located processing centers with a matrix of “high-performing” facilities enabling “service excellence.” Six months after its February 24 activation, the Atlanta RPDC is anything…
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It’s not often that ratepayers and a postal union can find common ground, but the Postal Service’s proposal to again reduce service standards has provided one. The example was an August 23 statement by Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union: “The American Postal Workers Union is deeply concerned regarding the August 22nd announcement from postal management, with…
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Though spun to appear as improving service performance, the Postal Service has announced a proposal to further reduce service standards so it can eliminate afternoon collections nationally. The announcement preceded a planned webinar to discuss the proposal in advance of filing for an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission. Though the USPS is overtly committed to going through the…
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A bill introduced in the Senate last May, and last week in the House, would ban additional pricing authority for Periodicals unless the Postal Service can improve service for the class. S 4378, titled the Deliver for Democracy Act, was introduced May 21 by Senator Peter Welch (VT) with eight bipartisan cosponsors. The companion House bill was introduced July 23…
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